Method and system for cross-issuer registration of transaction cards

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a method of providing one or more transaction card services to a holder of a transaction card, the method comprising receiving a registration code from the holder, wherein the registration code is associated with the issuer of the transaction card and with the transaction card, determining the issuer of the transaction card based on at least a portion of the registration code, transmitting the registration code to the issuer of the transaction card, receiving account information from the issuer, wherein the account information is associated with the registration code and with the transaction card, displaying at least a portion of the account information to the holder, receiving a verification value corresponding to the account information from the holder, and if the verification value is valid, permitting the holder to select one or more services in which to enroll.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application No.60/825,733, filed Sep. 15, 2006, and entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FORCROSS-ISSUER REGISTRATION OF TRANSACTION CARDS.”

BACKGROUND

Transaction cards, such as credit cards, debit cards and the like, arecommonly used by consumers to perform transactions. Transaction cardsare so common because such cards have numerous advantages overalternative payment options. For example, such cards are oftenconsidered to be more convenient than carrying cash for a consumerbecause they are more compact and less likely to be lost. Moreover, if atransaction card is lost, the card can be cancelled with minimal loss tothe cardholder

Because of the advantages of carrying transaction cards, cardholdersoften possess numerous cards. In fact, a typical cardholder may havebetween eight and ten transaction cards. As a result, a singlecardholder could have multiple cards offered by the same association,such as Visa®, MasterCard®, or American Express®.

Transaction card issuers, such as banks, often provide services inconjunction with a transaction card. For example, an issuer may offer apayment alert program to provide notice to a cardholder when atransaction card is used to perform a transaction. Other services mayinclude cardholder controls (under which restrictions may be placed upona secondary cardholder who is able to use the transaction card), fraudprotection (protection against transactions performed by an unauthorizedthird party if a transaction card is lost or stolen by a cardholder),and the like.

Presently, a cardholder that desires to enroll in one or more of suchservices must inconveniently enroll in the services with the issuer foreach transaction card. Because of such inconvenience, a cardholder couldbe enrolled in a service with an issuer for one transaction card but notfor another transaction card offered by the same association, when thecardholder would prefer to have all transaction cards offered by thesame association enrolled in the service. Moreover, a cardholder couldbe unaware or forget that a particular desired service has not beenobtained for a particular transaction card. This can cause confusionamong cardholders.

What are needed are methods and systems for enabling cardholders toenroll in one or more services for one or more transaction cards at acentral location, where the transaction cards are issued by a pluralityof issuers.

A need exists for methods and systems of aggregating cardholderinformation across all issuers.

A need exists for methods and systems for securely enabling a cardholderto register for one or more services without exposing sensitivecardholder information and that substantially limit the possibility forerroneous association of a transaction card without an unauthorizedaccount.

The present disclosure is directed to solving one or more of theabove-listed problems.

SUMMARY

Before the present methods are described, it is to be understood thatthis invention is not limited to the particular methodologies orprotocols described, as these may vary. It is also to be understood thatthe terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the presentdisclosure, which will be limited only by the appended claims.

It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, thesingular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural reference unless thecontext clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to a“certificate” is a reference to one or more certificates and equivalentsthereof known to those skilled in the art, and so forth. Unless definedotherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the samemeanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art.Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to thosedescribed herein can be used in the practice or testing of the presentinvention, the preferred methods, devices, and materials are nowdescribed. All publications mentioned herein are incorporated herein byreference. Nothing herein is to be construed as an admission that theinvention is not entitled to antedate such disclosure by virtue of priorinvention.

In an embodiment, a method of providing one or more services to acardholder may include generating, by an issuer, a registration code,sending the registration code to a cardholder, receiving theregistration code from the cardholder, determining the issuer based onat least a portion of the registration code, transmitting theregistration code to the issuer, receiving an account identifierassociated with the registration code from the issuer, displaying atleast a portion of the account identifier to the cardholder, receiving averification value from the cardholder corresponding to the accountidentifier, and permitting the cardholder to select one or moreservices, if the verification value is valid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects, features, benefits and advantages of the present invention willbe apparent with regard to the following description and accompanyingdrawings, of which:

FIG. 1 depicts a flow diagram of an exemplary process of providing oneor more services to a cardholder for a plurality of transaction cardsaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 depicts a flow diagram of an exemplary process for associating aregistration code with a consumer according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram of an exemplary process for registering aconsumer on a central website according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 depicts a flow diagram for an exemplary process of verifying acardholder according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 depicts a flow diagram of an exemplary process of providing oneor more services to a cardholder for a plurality of transaction cardsaccording to an embodiment. As depicted in FIG. 1, an issuer may provide105 a registration code to a cardholder. The registration code may beprovided as part of a monthly statement, via an issuer's online accountmanagement system and/or via other cardholder support channels, such astelephone, direct mailing programs, and the like. The registration codeis a code that is uniquely assigned to a cardholder for a particularservice and/or all services offered by the issuer. In an embodiment, theregistration code may be an alphanumeric code. In an embodiment, theregistration code is not correlated to the cardholder's primary accountnumber (PAN) or any other cardholder identifying information. As such,sensitive cardholder information may not be determinable from theregistration code. A particular cardholder may receive a registrationcode for one or more transaction cards and/or from one or more issuers.In an embodiment, each transaction code may include an issueridentification code that uniquely identifies the issuer of theregistration code.

The cardholder may then access 110 a website, such as a transaction cardassociation website. If the cardholder has not previously accessed thewebsite, the cardholder may perform 115 a one-time account setup byselecting a username, password (or other authentication token), and/orthe like. If the cardholder has already created an account at thewebsite or once the cardholder completes the one-time account setup, thecardholder may log into 120 the account.

The cardholder may then register 125 one or more cards by entering theregistration code provided by each issuer for each transaction card.When a registration code is entered for a particular transaction card,the website may determine 130 an issuer based on the registration codeand transmit 135 the registration code to the issuer. In response, thewebsite may receive 140 account information for the cardholder's accountwith the issuer. In an embodiment, one or more fields of thecardholder's account information may be masked to prevent the display ofsensitive information. In an embodiment, the account information may bereceived 140 in an encrypted format and decrypted by the website.Additionally, a list of services offered by the issuer may also bereceived and used to determine which services to offer the cardholder.The cardholder may then select 145 one or more services to be applied tothe account. Once the cardholder completes selection of the one or moreservices, the website may transmit 150 the selected services to theissuer for processing and enrollment.

FIG. 2 depicts a flow diagram of an exemplary process for associating aregistration code with a consumer according to an embodiment. As shownin FIG. 2, the issuer may select one or more account numbers for whichto offer one or more services. For each account, the issuer may remove205 the bank identification number (BIN) from the PAN for the account. Adigest may be created 210 using the remaining digits. In a preferredembodiment, the SHA-1 hashing algorithm is used to create this digest.The digest may then be encrypted 215. A registration code may begenerated 220 using the digest and stored 225 in memory with theassociated account number or the digest. The registration code may thenbe provided 230 to the transaction cardholder.

FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram of an exemplary process for registering aconsumer on a central website according to an embodiment. As shown inFIG. 3, a cardholder may log into 305 a registration website by, forexample, providing a username, a password, and/or any otherauthentication token. The cardholder may then enter 310 a registrationcode provided by an issuer. A computer system associated with theregistration website may determine 315 an issuer associated with theregistration code and transmit 320 the registration code to the issuer.The issuer may determine 325 whether the registration code is valid anddetermine the account associated with the registration code. The issuermay then transmit 330 account information for the associated account tothe registration website.

FIG. 4 depicts a flow diagram for an exemplary process of verifying acardholder according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, theregistration website may receive 405 the truncated account number fromthe issuer. The issuer and the truncated account number may then bedisplayed 410 to the cardholder. If the displayed account number isimproper, the transaction may be cancelled 415. If the cardholderverifies that the account number is proper, the registration website maydisplay 420 a request for the associated transaction card's cardverification value (CVV). The cardholder may then enter 425 a CVV forthe transaction card. If the cardholder enters an improper CVV, thetransaction may be cancelled 430. Otherwise, the cardholder may beregistered 435 with the registration website.

It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and otherfeatures and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirablycombined into many other different systems or applications. It will alsobe appreciated that various presently unforeseen or unanticipatedalternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may besubsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended tobe encompassed by the disclosed embodiments.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. A computer implemented method of providing one ormore transaction card services to a holder associated with a transactionaccount, the method comprising: receiving a registration code from theholder, wherein the registration code is associated with the issuer ofthe transaction account and with the transaction account; determiningthe issuer of the transaction account based on at least a portion of theregistration code; transmitting the registration code to the issuer ofthe transaction account; receiving account information from the issuer,wherein the account information is associated with the registration codeand with the transaction account; displaying at least a portion of theaccount information to the holder; receiving a verification valuecorresponding to the account information from the holder; and if theverification value is valid, permitting the holder to select one or moreservices in which to enroll.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein theregistration code was received by the holder from the issuer.
 23. Themethod of claim 21, wherein the registration code is not correlated tothe account information.
 24. The method of claim 21, wherein theregistration code includes an issuer code corresponding to an issuer ofthe transaction account.
 25. The method of claim 21, further comprisingreceiving account setup information from the holder before receiving theregistration code from the holder.
 26. The method of claim 21, whereinthe account information comprises an account identifier.
 27. The methodof claim 21, wherein the account information is received in encryptedform.
 28. The method of claim 21, wherein a portion of the accountinformation is masked to prevent the display of sensitive information.29. The method of claim 21, wherein the verification value is atransaction card verification value (CVV).
 30. A computer readablemedium comprising code, executable by a processor form implementing amethod comprising method of providing one or more transaction cardservices to a holder associated with a transaction account, the methodcomprising: receiving a registration code from the holder, wherein theregistration code is associated with the issuer of the transactionaccount and with the transaction account; determining the issuer of thetransaction account based on at least a portion of the registrationcode; transmitting the registration code to the issuer of thetransaction account; receiving account information from the issuer,wherein the account information is associated with the registration codeand with the transaction account; displaying at least a portion of theaccount information to the holder; receiving a verification valuecorresponding to the account information from the holder; and if theverification value is valid, permitting the holder to select one or moreservices in which to enroll.
 31. The computer readable medium of claim30 wherein the registration code was received by the holder from theissuer.
 32. The computer readable medium of claim 30, wherein theregistration code is not correlated to the account information.
 33. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 30, wherein the registration codeincludes an issuer code corresponding to an issuer of the transactionaccount.
 34. The computer readable medium of claim 30, wherein themethod further comprises receiving account setup information from theholder before receiving the registration code from the holder.
 35. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 30 wherein the account informationcomprises an account identifier.
 36. A computer implemented method ofproviding one or more transaction card services to a holder associatedwith a transaction account, the method comprising: providing, by anissuer, a code to a holder of an account of the issuer, wherein theholder thereafter accesses a Website and attempts to enter the code intothe Website to register the account; receiving the code from theWebsite; determining if the code is valid; and if the code is valid,then transmitting information associated with the transaction account tothe Website.
 37. The method of claim 36 wherein the code is aregistration code.
 38. The method of claim 36 wherein the registrationcode is generated by a process including removing a bank identificationnumber from a PAN, generating a digest after removing the bankidentification number, and generating the registration code using thedigest.
 39. The method of claim 36 wherein the holder is a cardholder,and is registered on the Website after providing a verification value tothe Website.
 40. The method of claim 36 wherein the verification valueis a CVV value.